Welcome

As we begin the new year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all the contributions you have made to PTA and its successes.  It is proven that children do better when their families are involved both at home and in school.  Grades are higher. Test scores rise. Self-esteem grows. Schools improve.  Involved families understand the challenges schools face and become part of the solution. Shrinking budgets, curriculum cuts, class sizes and government mandates make delivering a high quality education a daunting task.

As you continue your membership campaigns in the new year, please remember to share your PTA’s accomplishments with your school families.  Let them know that it was your PTA that sponsored the bookfairs, purchased the new playscape, funded the after school programs. Many families assume it was the school, or the board of education that funded the enrichment programs and class field trips.  Show them that we need their membership and support to accomplish our goals.

I would also ask you to please do the same for your PTA Nationally.  Many people take for granted much of what PTA has accomplished throughout its history. To some it seems like we’ve always had the rules and regulations to protect and provide for our children’s well-being and educational needs.  Please remind your families that PTA is one of the largest children’s advocacy groups in the country and that thanks to PTA, our nation has:

 Child labor laws to protect against unsafe working practices and conditions:

• Federally funded hot-lunches, that feed 26 million children a day in our public schools;
• Labels on music recordings to help parents know which contain “explicit lyrics”;
• 3.5 million Children attending a kindergarten program as a part of our public schools today.

I will continue to send you PTA accomplishments and information through monthly emails that I hope you will share with all your school families so that they can see why PTA is so important. So they can see how their dues money is being spent. So they will never have to ask “Why not PTO?” 

As we celebrate over 100 years of PTA history, we would like to honor our past and renew our commitment for the future. As a PTA leader, you carry the same passion and dedication that our founders had in making sure all children have a chance to succeed in school and in life.  CTPTA is a great resource for information. Please see the attached flyer filled with great ideas to increase your membership and remember, please don’t hesitate to call the Hamden office should you need anything at all.

I look forward to meeting you all and hope you have a great new year!

Holly Goodwin
CTPT Membership Vice President

WAYS TO INCREASE MEMBERSHIP

Open your Back to School Tool Kit. It’s filled with lots of great information and resources. Make sure to distribute the information to all your board members.

Pop the Membership CD into your computer and check out all the PTA posters, brochures, fliers and letters that you can print out at the touch of a button.  It’s easy and it’s free!

Make sure your membership forms have more than one line for signing up.  Allow space for not only parents, but for grandparents, aunts, uncle’s friends etc…

Go to www.pta.org and check out the” New Great PTA Idea Bank”. A social network filled with great ideas for running your PTA more effectively.

Attract members to your PTA meetings by offering workshops or speakers on current school issues. Understanding NCLB, CMT testing…Invite teachers to talk to parents about curriculum, study habits, transitioning to middle and high school.  Find out what questions your families have and offer the answers. 

“No time” is often given as the reason for not joining PTA. Separate the act of joining from the act of volunteering by signing up volunteers on a separate form or at times when you are not recruiting new members.

BRAG, BRAG, BRAG, about all you accomplishments. What you do is important. Make sure you take credit for it.  Show your families where their fundraising/dues money goes.

Hang a sign or banner with your name on it!

Have a membership table at every PTA and school event. Open House, Concerts, plays, etc…Membership is year round!

Don’t forget to ask custodians, cafeteria workers, secretaries and even the bus drivers to support your PTA by joining.

Ask the Board of Education members, Mayor, Superintendent, and of course your principal.

Take pictures at PTA events and post them on a school bulletin board or make posters of great PTA events.  Get those pictures into school yearbooks!

Say “Thank You!”